North Alabama member checking in

[Mad_Hatter]

Hi all. I just joined the site, even though I've been lurking for 9 months now. I purchased my '13 6MT Hot Lava FR-S last October when I lived up in Northwest Arkansas (gotta love those mountain roads) but work just recently transferred me back home (Cullman). I frequent both Huntsville and Birmingham on the weekends, so good chance you will see me around somewhere...
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself now that I'm back in 'bama.

[6speed_Sam]

Welcome! Hopefully we can get a Hsv/north AL meet going one day.

[codesplice]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter

Hi all. I just joined the site, even though I've been lurking for 9 months now. I purchased my '13 6MT Hot Lava FR-S last October when I lived up in Northwest Arkansas (gotta love those mountain roads) but work just recently transferred me back home (Cullman). I frequent both Huntsville and Birmingham on the weekends, so good chance you will see me around somewhere...
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself now that I'm back in 'bama.

Welcome to the club!

Originally Posted by 6speed_Sam

Welcome! Hopefully we can get a Hsv/north AL meet going one day.

Indeedidly. It'd be great to put some names to cars and maybe even faces.

[Mad_Hatter]

Do y'all have any recommendations for a reputable place to get windows tinted?

[codesplice]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter

Do y'all have any recommendations for a reputable place to get windows tinted?

@Eurasianman recommended Madison 1 Day Auto Spa to me.

My salesguy at the Subie dealiership suggested Freddie Louis Auto Accessories.

I haven't pulled the trigger on getting tint yet though. Still on my ever-lengthening to-do list.

[The Tengu]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter

Hi all. I just joined the site, even though I've been lurking for 9 months now. I purchased my '13 6MT Hot Lava FR-S last October when I lived up in Northwest Arkansas (gotta love those mountain roads) but work just recently transferred me back home (Cullman). I frequent both Huntsville and Birmingham on the weekends, so good chance you will see me around somewhere...
Anyway, just wanted to say hi and introduce myself now that I'm back in 'bama.

I work in Cullman and drive a Whiteout. Haven't seen any others in the area yet. I autox in B'ham if you're ever interested and want to try it out.

[6speed_Sam]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter

Do y'all have any recommendations for a reputable place to get windows tinted?

Xtreme tint in madison

[Eurasianman]

Originally Posted by codesplice

@Eurasianman recommended Madison 1 Day Auto Spa to me.

My salesguy at the Subie dealiership suggested Freddie Louis Auto Accessories.

I haven't pulled the trigger on getting tint yet though. Still on my ever-lengthening to-do list.

I have heard Freddie Louis Auto Accessories is good. Not sure about their pricing though.

[FR-S Neck]

Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter

Do y'all have any recommendations for a reputable place to get windows tinted?

Originally Posted by 6speed_Sam

Xtreme tint in madison

Xtreme is more like Xtremely Bad from experience.

Go somewhere that has llumar tint IMO.

Not trying to hate or anything, but to each his own opinion.

[supramkivtt2jz]

I would stay away from xtreme - they moan and complain if you come back about warranty work. i installed it myself on my old A4 and it was a hell of a lot better installation than anything xtreme did.

i dont have experience with any others. My FR-S was tinted by the dealer (or they contracted it. one of the two)

[6speed_Sam]

Originally Posted by FR-S Neck

Xtreme is more like Xtremely Bad from experience.

Go somewhere that has llumar tint IMO.

Not trying to hate or anything, but to each his own opinion.

Ok.. sorry. I didn't know they got that bad. I had my truck done there 6yrs ago but they did good work then.

Good thing the frs came tinted..otherwise I would have screwed up going there.

[FR-S Neck]

Originally Posted by supramkivtt2jz

I would stay away from xtreme - they moan and complain if you come back about warranty work. i installed it myself on my old A4 and it was a hell of a lot better installation than anything xtreme did.

i dont have experience with any others. My FR-S was tinted by the dealer (or they contracted it. one of the two)

Originally Posted by 6speed_Sam

Ok.. sorry. I didn't know they got that bad. I had my truck done there 6yrs ago but they did good work then.

Good thing the frs came tinted..otherwise I would have screwed up going there.

Don't get me wrong, if they did a good job on your truck I'm glad. Perhaps I was one of those special case f-ups.

The whole experience was quite shady for me. It started with the "special transaction" they said they had to do for the tint I purchased due to the 20% being illegal (basically the receipt says I bought a legal % tint but the price is up-charged to match the 20% that I bought). The receipt the receptionist printed out for me was hardly legible and was supposed to be used for the warranty spiel that she spewed.

When they finished, the first thing I noticed was how light the tint was. When I took a closer look, bubbles, and what appeared to be (dry soap?) was under the tint everywhere. Mind you I thoroughly cleaned my windows the night before. The back window looked like they might have been training Helen Keller to install that day.

Needless to say I talked to the tech, who did the work, and basically said WTF?! He calmed me down and said that the bubbles will go away, along with the soap stains, after a 3-4 days, and to not roll the windows up or down. I followed his instructions and saw no improving results. I also had one of my friends, who was a police officer, use his window tint tool to check the %. HAH!! legal all around! 35%!

Brought my car back a few days later, pissed. The same woman was working the front desk so I figured she would recognize me... I told her about how it was the wrong % tint and how bad of a job was done in the application. She asked to see the receipt, and told me there was nothing they could do because the receipt said 35% and they couldn't replace it with something that the receipt didn't have on it. At that point I started seeing red and had to leave before rage ensued. I knew then I wasn't going to be able to redeem anything from that dump.

I've been warding people away since then.

[codesplice]

Originally Posted by FR-S Neck

Don't get me wrong, if they did a good job on your truck I'm glad. Perhaps I was one of those special case f-ups.

The whole experience was quite shady for me. It started with the "special transaction" they said they had to do for the tint I purchased due to the 20% being illegal (basically the receipt says I bought a legal % tint but the price is up-charged to match the 20% that I bought). The receipt the receptionist printed out for me was hardly legible and was supposed to be used for the warranty spiel that she spewed.

When they finished, the first thing I noticed was how light the tint was. When I took a closer look, bubbles, and what appeared to be (dry soap?) was under the tint everywhere. Mind you I thoroughly cleaned my windows the night before. The back window looked like they might have been training Helen Keller to install that day.

Needless to say I talked to the tech, who did the work, and basically said WTF?! He calmed me down and said that the bubbles will go away, along with the soap stains, after a 3-4 days, and to not roll the windows up or down. I followed his instructions and saw no improving results. I also had one of my friends, who was a police officer, use his window tint tool to check the %. HAH!! legal all around! 35%!

Brought my car back a few days later, pissed. The same woman was working the front desk so I figured she would recognize me... I told her about how it was the wrong % tint and how bad of a job was done in the application. She asked to see the receipt, and told me there was nothing they could do because the receipt said 35% and they couldn't replace it with something that the receipt didn't have on it. At that point I started seeing red and had to leave before rage ensued. I knew then I wasn't going to be able to redeem anything from that dump.

I've been warding people away since then.

That's obviously what you get for being a criminal and trying to get illegal tint.





I KID! I KID! Seriously, that's quite a negative experience for sure, and it sounds like your complaints are entirely valid. You've got good reason to avoid that shop.

I did use Xtreme to do the tint in my 9-3 and the wife's 9-5. I was never 100% pleased with how my rear windshield ended up, but some of that may have just been the nature of the beast (lots of ripply defroster-related lines at the top of the glass, and the tint just never adhered there as a result). No complaints on the wife's car though, it looks perfect. Both of these were at 35%.



PS - thanks for elaborating on why you encourage folks to avoid Xtreme. That's many times more helpful.

[6speed_Sam]

Wow! I will stay clear! Thanks for the heads up